father left no will

[Tonya Doss]

I had no relationship with my father for 20 years prior to his death, approximately 4 years ago. I have been contacted by distant relatives saying me and my brother are heirs to a valuable piece of property that my father inherited. I have no idea where to start, or what to expect. There is no will. What kind of problems and taxes should I expect when this property sells. There is a long list of heirs to this property. I live in Texas.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You

 

[advisor10]

2-2-2002

DEAR TONYA:

Congratulations on finding out some good news!

If you know the city/state where your father died, and the month and year, you need to contact the county courthouse for that city and ask the probate court clerk if there is a probate file available for your father. There probably is a file for him, and you could ask them to look up the name and address of the executor (or order a copy of that page for about a $1 by mail from the court), and then contact the executor to ask how you can go about filing a claim for your share of the property or finding out what the executor's plans are for the property (maybe they want to sell it and give you your share of the money, or maybe they don't want to sell it and let it increase in value).

At some point you will want to make sure that your name is transferred or listed on the title/deed to the property as a legal heir and owner. The executor can tell you the value of the property and what the taxes would be.

Since there is a long list of heirs, it may take a while before a decision is made about whether everyone wants to sell or not. Seems like the distant relatives should at least have given you the address or location of the property or at least some clue on who to contact to get more information.